With more than 3.2 million ballots counted in France’s November 20 presidential primary, former president Nicolas Sarkozy accepted defeat. He acknowledged that he did not win over the majority of voters and respects the outcome of the elections, he said in a speech at his campaign headquarters in Paris.

On the 21st of October, the Venezuelan opposition’s aim of ousting their elected leader was further undermined by the electoral council, which suspended the campaign to hold a recall referendum against President Nicolas Maduro.

Although the Security Council delegation’s arrival offered a glimmer of hope for a struggling nation in its infancy, its departure has led to increased government intimidation among civil society groups, with some even fleeing the country.

The two former Soviet republics are trapped in a decade’s long squabble over the contested Armenian, mountainous region that was formerly a part of the Azerbaijani SSR. With independence being declared in 1991 and a three year war following it, Russia stepped in and was able to broker a truce between the two countries.

Former chief engineer Nasrat Adamo stated that the level of maintenance needed to shore up the flaws in the dam basically evaporated after its occupation by the Islamic State in the summer 2014. “The machines for grouting have been looted. There is no cement supply. They can do nothing… All we can do is hold our hearts.”